How the cost of monthly utilities, car insurance and child care is soaring

Published

2 years ago

November 30, 2023

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It’s not just grocery staples like eggs, milk, bread and coffee that are going through the roof — it’s also the hit from basic monthly payments like heat, electricity, car insurance and child care.

While housing costs and car payments continue to dog consumers amid stubbornly stiff interest rates, new figures from the US Energy Information Administration reveal that homeowners and renters alike are getting no relief from their associated monthly bills.

Those include electricity, which has climbed 25% since January 2020, the year before President Joe Biden took office and began touting his Bidenomics agenda.

California residents have experienced among the fastest-climbing electricity bills, which have popped a stunning 59% from the start of January through October 2023, per EIA.

Maine also experienced one of the steepest surges in electric costs, at 42%, while New Yorkers faced a roughly 38% pop in the same three-plus-year time period.

It’s part of the cold reality looming for most US voters who believe the odds of achieving the so-called “American Dream” are stacked against them.

For consumers faced with heating their homes this winter, the price of natural gas is also up 29% since January 2020, according to EIA figures that were earlier reported on by Bloomberg.

The figures contradict the latest Consumer Price Index, which reported that the energy index fell 2.5% on a monthly basis in October as gasoline tumbled 5% — figures Biden spun as good news for Bidenomics, which popped a historic $2 trillion hole in the federal budget last month.

Car insurance costs are following the same trend as Americans face monthly payments that are 33% higher than they were at the start of 2020.

The advance is faster than the previous three years, from 2016 to 2019 combined, when monthly car insurance payments ticked 21% higher, according to Bloomberg.

The cost of the car itself has also revved to a record-breaking $736 per month for a new vehicle, according to automotive company Edmunds.

In another grim all-time high, Edmunds found that 17.5% of Americans’ monthly car payment exceeds $1,000.

Healthcare plans also became more costly.

The average employer-sponsored health insurance premium for US families reached almost $24,000 this year, according to an annual KFF survey of more than 2,000 American companies — up a punishing 7% compared with a 1% increase a year earlier

Premiums for individual employer coverage rose at the same rate.

And as of 2022, the average annual cost of child care nationally was $10,853 — or roughly 10% of the average married couple’s median income — according to Bloomberg, citing data from Child Care Aware of America.

However, costs varied by region. States in the Northeast charge the most for child care, CCAoA found, running parents $30,514 for two children.

For reference, CCAoA’s annual survey found that housing costs in the area average $25,557 and the average child care professional earns an average of $28,520 per year.

In 41 states plus the District of Columbia, the average annual price of child care for two children exceeds average annual mortgage payments by anywhere from 1% to 53% — and rent payments by a staggering 100% — per the CCAoA.

Entertainment

Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin

Published

1 hour ago

July 17, 2025

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Tomorrowland: 'Devastating' blaze destroys main stage at major festival - two days before it was due to begin

A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.

Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.

Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.

The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.

It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.

Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.

The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.

The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.

Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.

Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.

“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”

Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.

Politics

PM criticised over ‘appalling’ decision to suspend four Labour MPs

Published

1 hour ago

July 17, 2025

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Starmer suspends four Labour MPs for breaches of party discipline

Sir Keir Starmer has suspended four MPs for repeated breaches of party discipline.

Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Rachael Maskell have lost the whip, meaning they are no longer part of Labour’s parliamentary party and will sit as independent MPs.

The suspension is indefinite pending a review.

Three other MPs have had their trade envoy roles removed: Rosena Allin Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammed Yasin.

Politics latest: Suspended MPs defend their voting record

All seven had voted against the government’s welfare reforms earlier this month. However, it is understood this is not the only reason behind the decision, with sources citing “repeated breaches of party discipline”.

More than 100 MPs had initially rebelled against the plan to cut personal independent payments (PIP). Ultimately, 47 voted against the bill’s third reading, after it was watered down significantly in the face of defeat.

Ms Maskell was one of the lead rebels in the welfare revolt, and has more recently called for a wealth tax to fund the U-turn.

The York Central MP has spoken out against the government on a number of other occasions since the election, including on winter fuel and cuts to overseas aid.

Confirming the suspension, Ms Maskell told Sky News that she “doesn’t see herself as a rebel” but “somebody that is prepared to fulfil (her) role here of holding the executive to account and speaking truth to power”.

She stopped short of criticising the decision, saying: “I hold my hand out to the prime minister and hope he takes that and wants to reach back because I think it’s really important that we work together.”

Ms Maskell was first elected in 2015, while the other suspended MPs were newly elected last year.

Mr Hinchliff, the MP for North East Hertfordshire, has proposed a series of amendments to the flagship planning and infrastructure bill criticising the government’s approach.

Mr Duncan-Jordan, the MP for Poole, led a rebellion against the cut to the winter fuel payments while Alloa and Grangemouth MP Mr Leishman has been critical of the government’s position on Gaza.

Suspended Labour MPs clearly hit a nerve with Starmer

Tamara Cohen

Political correspondent

@tamcohen

After a tricky few weeks for the government, in which backbenchers overturned plans to cut back welfare spending, now a heavy hand to get the party into line.

All four suspended MPs appear to be surprised – and upset.

Three more have lost plum roles as trade envoys – all on the left of the party.

All were active in the rebellion against the government’s welfare reforms, and voted against the changes even after a series of U-turns – but were among 47 Labour MPs who did so.

When MPs were told after the welfare vote that Number 10 was “fully committed to engaging with parliamentarians”, this was not what they were expecting.

We’re told the reasons for these particular suspensions go wider – over “persistent breaches of party discipline” – although most are not high profile.

In the scheme of things, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell rebelled against the Labour whip hundreds of times under New Labour, without being suspended.

But these MPs’ pointed criticism of the Starmer strategy has clearly hit a nerve.

Read Tamara’s analysis in full here

‘Couldn’t support making people poorer’

Mr Duncan-Jordan told Sky News that he understood speaking out against benefit cuts would “come at a cost” but said he “couldn’t support making disabled people poorer”.

Mr Leishman echoed that sentiment, saying: “I firmly believe that it is not my duty as an MP to make people poorer, especially those that have suffered because of austerity and its dire consequences.”

Both said they remain committed to the Labour Party and its values, suggesting they have no plans to join the new party being set up by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and ousted MP Zarah Sultana.

Similarly Mr Hinchliff said in a brief statement: “I remain proud to have been elected as a Labour MP and I hope in time to return to the Labour benches.”

The suspensions will be seen as an attempt to restore discipline ahead of the summer recess following a number of rebellions that has forced the government into U-turns.

As well as watering down the welfare bill, some cuts to the winter fuel payment have been reversed, leaving Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a fiscal blackhole to fill.

However, the move risks creating further divisions with a number of Labour MPs criticising the decision.

Starmer ‘rolling out the carpet to Reform’

Ian Byrne, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, said he was “appalled” by the suspensions as he and 44 others voted against welfare cuts.

He said this isn’t the first time the Starmer leadership has “punished MPs for standing up for what’s right”, as he and six others were suspended last year for voting against the two-child benefit cap.

“These decisions don’t show strength. They are damaging Labour’s support and risk rolling out the red carpet for Reform,” he added.

Richard Burgon, who was also temporarily suspended in the two-child benefit cap revolt, said he had hoped the leadership would take a different approach to backbenchers.

“Sadly, it isn’t yet doing so. To help stop a Reform government, it really must do so,” he said.

Jon Trickett, Labour MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, said “it’s not a sin to stand up for the poor and disabled”, adding: “Solidarity with the suspended four.”

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